Seriously - Who Teaches these Kids Their Manners?

I don't think this is how Christmas Dinner would look if we had the manners thing down at our house... but obviously we don't.

Trey climbed on the table to stab himself some more pineapple, then proceeded to either sit or kneel on the table for most of the meal, despite Jake and my pleas for him to kindly sit in his chair.

Tamsyn kept disappearing under the table to color in her new coloring book, and Natasha who seems to be ambidextrous couldn't figure out which hand to eat with or how to hold her fork.

Maybe by 2019 we will all know a few more table manners (Jake and I included ;)

Seriously - Why Wrap Gifts?

So much for the surprise!

Natasha was cute though...

she said "At least I don't know what color it is or exactly what it looks like."

Seriously - The Vast Expanse of Love

Seriously - Egg-splosion

I don't really know how I made it to my age without ever hearing that cooking eggs in the microwave could end in an explosion.... but somehow I never got the memo.

I have been eating a lot of egg whites with my no sugar/no white flour diet, and it is much easier for me just to nuke them.  Well, the other day Trey saw me cooking mine and asked if he could have one too.  I decided the yolks would be good for him, so added the yolk from my egg to the bowl with his egg in it and put it in the microwave -- this was the outcome...

Not 30 seconds in to the cooking time and there was one of the loudest indoor BOOMS I have ever heard.  I opened the microwave to see the remains of the solo egg yolk.

Trying to salvage the other egg, (it still needed to cook a bit more) I decided it would be a good idea to pierce it with a fork like you are supposed to do with potatoes so they don't explode...

As soon as my fork touched the yolk, there was another EXTREMELY LOUD (unmuffled by the microwave this time) KA-BOOM, and that yolk exploded all over me and the entire kitchen, Trey even had some on him.

I was quite shaken up and my ears were ringing.  Trey thought it was pretty darn hilarious -- but wouldn't eat the remains of the egg after seeing how dangerous those little things could be.

Funny thing though -- I am tempted to try it again just so Jake can hear how loud it really is :)

Seriously - Too much to know

A conversation I had with Tamsyn during the course of one morning run...

I am so glad my kids have a desire to learn about new things.  It is so fun to see them soak up the information around them.  Yesterday Jake and I went to parent teacher conference for Natasha.  Jake was thrilled to hear that she is very good at problem solving :)  She is also a great little reader, and most importantly caring, helpful and kind to her classmates.

Seriously - You Can't Fool Kids

Jake got home from work to find Trey watching some cartoons and started singing along.

Seriously, what a little smarty pants!

Seriously - Magic Kingdom Mishaps

WAITING

So... be wary of getting into a seat that is a little on the wet side.  (I pulled out a diaper and had Tamsyn hide behind a dark corner... but I am sure not everyone does :)

Roller Coaster

Potty Training in the Happiest Place on Earth

Never mistake one of these...

For one of these...

Is it just me or do moms spend a huge percentage of their time in amusement parks looking at these with squirming little kids?  Trey decided that he had to go every time one of the girls did, mind you he has not wanted anything to do with potty training up until that moment.  One of the times that I took him in to use the toilet his diaper was a bit wet, so I threw it away and thought I would get another diaper when we went back out. I had left my bag with the stroller and didn't have an extra diaper with me.  Needless to say, I forgot to put a diaper on him and later when we were waiting for a parade, he quietly went behind a bench.  It was too late before I realized what he was doing.... Luckily the load dropped right down his shorts leg and onto the ground, with minimal mess.... 

Don't worry I discreetly hid it in a paper towel and threw it in the trash.

More than most of you wanted to know I'm sure :)

Long Line  and Bus Ride Entertainment

Justin makes everything more fun.  We were glad to have his stories to make all the waiting more enjoyable.

BELIEVE IT!

Seriously - Super Grandma!

Alyce was here for less than one week.

During that time she -- read the kids books, played hide-&-seek, baked cookies, painted 4 cat and ghost nesting dolls, 3 simple nativities, finished her Christmas cottage nesting doll, helped Jake paint and stain and screw together 12 advent nativities, blistered her fingers hot gluing clothes on little Mary and Joseph's, filled our freezer with pumpkin bread and muffins, sewed Trey and the neighbor boy super hero capes, played cards, went to a soccer game and an art show, babysat so Jake and I could have a weekend away, sewed the girls 3 skirts each, put embellishments on Tamsyn's shirt and made the extra fabric into little clothes for favorite stuffed animals, as well as kept a close eye on the kids during the day so I could focus on painting extra for my shows --- (and probably several other things I failed to mention)... 

WHEW! That list makes me exhausted just thinking about it --  I definitely think she earned her cape with a big SG on it :)  

Seriously - Not a Funny One

I had to draw this to help explain it ---

Last week after we dropped Justin off at the base, we headed home.  It was around 9:30pm and very dark.  We were driving along the interstate, when we came up behind what at first looked like a tanker.  When we got closer we realized it was a truck with a giant cylinder shaped tank of some kind strapped to a trailer.  While behind it a thought crossed my mind...

What if that big thing fell off?

Well, not even a minute later a gust of wind came up and the big black circle was moving toward us.  Jake slowed down quickly and I braced myself, because I didn't know where the thing was going to go, or what was going to happen with the cars behind us.  Luckily the traffic was minimal.   If it had been heavy, I don't know if an accident could have been avoided.  The tank came a ways toward us and made a grinding noise that sounded like heavy plastic or fiber glass against the pavement, then it started rolling into the other lane, and as soon as it did that Jake sped up and passed it (which was a smart move because if a following car hadn't seen it, they might have easily hit it, or us).  

Finally the tank rolled into the median and the truck pulled over.  I was very relieved that Jake had reacted well, and that we were safe.  I definitely felt like we were blessed.

There have been lots of times that I have been driving behind a load that looks a bit precarious, and I am sure I have wondered to myself before if the load might come loose.... pretty crazy to actually have it happen.

Seriously -I Wish I May I Wish I Might

The other evening we were at the park playing one of our family favorite games -- Ball Tag. Whoever is IT chases everyone else through and around the playground equipment and tries to hit them with the ball.   Tamsyn was IT when she suddenly stopped in her tracks and stared at the sky...

We finished our game as it was getting darker, and headed home.  On the way I asked her what she wished for.  Her response was... "I can't remember, a monkey or a dog.  But, daddy told me I couldn't have a monkey, so maybe a dog."  

I guess I have a better chance of getting a monkey :)

Seriously - Mac & Cheese

Seriously - Thurston Trey

-- He has had this response multiple times to many more than the above name calling list --

Glad to know the little guy knows who he is.

Seriously - Our family is Not Competitive

After a family walk -- everyone wants to be the first person home.  

Seriously, why does everything have to be a race?

and just FYI

I beat Jake;)

Seriously - Trey's New Favorite Phrase

 Sorry buddy, I can't help but see you --- 

and it is kind of hard to miss the soaking wet kitchen floor too.

Scissors and a two year old are not the best combination -- 

at least I got him 2 new shirts instead of just this one.

Seriously - Mother of the Year Moment

I know the lady in the car was definitely thinking that she should nominate me for Mother of the Year -- I could just tell by the look on her face.

On this particular day -- it was raining when we started out so I had the rain cover on top of the stroller, which made it so I couldn't see the kids as well as I normally can.  I am really bad about strapping Trey in because he loathes it and will scream and throw is body around and and attract even worse dirty looks than the lady above.  Luckily after he dove head first into the middle of the street -- I guess he wanted to run too... he only had a few scrapes.

Even with these not so shining moments, I am glad to be back into a regular running routine now that Natasha is back to school :).

Seriously - Can't a Mom have a Little Privacy

I know what you are thinking...

Maybe I should just lock the door :)

I am pretty sure they would knock it completely down or rip it off the hinges  anyway.

Seriously - So Proud of This Girl

At the beginning of summer Jake sat down with Natasha and made some goals for while school was out.  When I saw the list, I was a bit surprised and thought Jake might be expecting too much.  He assured me that she was the one that chose the goals and that he thought she could do it.  He also added that she would get $100 if she succeeded in all the areas.

Here is her list of goals -

Finish reading the first 28 books in the Magic Tree House series 

Run 2 times a week and in one 5k race

Do math practice and or writing 2 times a week

Play soccer once a week

Well, I have to admit that there was a week or two when Jake wasn't around, that I forgot about the math part, but other than that she did every single one of her goals.  She just finished book #28 a few days ago, and last night after getting a father's blessing and packing her backpack for her first day of school, Jake gave her $100.  She quickly said she would pay tithing and put $1 (jake talked her into $5) into her piggy bank for something she wants soon and save the rest. She plans on taking $50 of it to spend in Disney World when we go.

She is such a joy to have around.  She is determined to finish what she starts, and friendly and kind to everyone.  She is our little peacemaker and I miss that everyday while she is at school.

This morning we walked her to her first day of 2nd grade.  I felt bad that I don't have a camera to take her picture.  Luckily one of her friends mom's was dropping her daughter off at the same time, and she let me snap a picture that I will add here when she emails it to me.

What Happened to my Poor Camera

 August 15th, 2009

Mom and Dad kept the kids and told Jake and I we could hike up above the fog to get a closer look at Mt. Rainier.  We decided to make a workout of it and hiked at full speed.  It took us about 45 minutes, but finally we were out of the haze and had a clear sky above us.

You can see just how fast the clouds and fog were moving by comparing these 2 pictures.  It would be clear one minute and back to being foggy the next.

Well, on the way down we decided to move quickly so mom and dad wouldn't be stranded with the kids without anything to do at the visitor's center.... once we were almost to the bottom and back on the paved path, the following occurred --

Better get used to this silly little drawings...